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Bull Trout Presentation Summary
November 10, 1998 - Old Federal Building – Seattle
Main Technical Points:
- Each of King County’s major watersheds is known to provide habitat for a distinct subpopulation of bull trout; these subpopulations are important to the long term survival of the larger Coastal/Puget Sound bull trout population.
- The general habitat requirements of bull trout have come to be known as the "4 Cs": Cold water, Clean water, Complex habitat structure, and Connected habitats, which together allow movement through a system and support the range of life history stages.
- Bull trout have a wide distribution (there are 35 subpopulations in the Coastal/Puget Sound area, with 19 of these in the Puget Sound basin), are highly mobile (one fish was shown to have moved from the Snohomish to the Skagit and another from the Skagit to the Nooksack), and are known to exhibit several life history forms, including resident, fluvial (migratory within a river system), adfluvial (migratory between a river system and a lake/reservoir), and anadromous (migratory between fresh and saltwater); migratory and resident forms of bull trout may be present in a single stream; these factors can complicate scheduling projects to minimize negative effects on the species.
- Bull trout have known and very specific spawning/incubation requirements (e.g., extremely cold water: 2-5 °C); in contrast, the species’ habitat requirements during rearing are not known with any certainty.
- Sampling/surveying to determine both the presence and abundance of bull trout is complex; casual efforts are insufficient to show that bull trout are not present in suitable habitat – rather, a rigorous sampling/surveying methodology must be employed to make determinations of absence.
- Identification of bull trout in the field can be difficult, particularly when trying to distinguish between bull trout and Dolly Varden, another native char whose range often overlaps that of bull trout in Puget Sound watersheds; techniques for analyzing genetic material are often used to distinguish bull trout from Dolly Varden.
Main Procedural Points:
- Coastal/Puget Sound populations of bull trout were proposed for listing on June 10, 1998, after several years of legal action in support of the eventual status review; a final decision to list – or not list – will likely be made in June, 1999, but could come as late as December 10, 1999.
- Given the varied life history strategies of bull trout and the amount of unknown information regarding the species, USFWS assumes that if habitat within an identified bull trout subpopulation’s range is suitable, bull trout are present. Exceptions are made where there is adequate data to show otherwise.
- Illustrative of what could be the approach in the Coastal/Puget Sound area, USFWS is organizing to undertake the necessary conservation actions for the species to be recovered in the Columbia and Klamath River basins; their rough plan is to establish a three-tiered framework: 1) a recovery oversight team for the species; 2) recovery unit teams for certain recovery areas yet to be determined; and 3) staff detailed to specific watersheds.
- USFWS is drafting a peer-reviewed bull trout conservation guidance document. This document is scheduled for release in early December and should help address issues around scheduling/permitting projects that could affect bull trout, regardless of the content of the listing decision.
Updated: Dec. 4, 1998
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